International Journal of Organizational Analysis

Effect of organisational integrity and leadership behaviour on organisational

excellence: Mediator role of work engagement
Hadi AL-Abrrow, Hasan Abdullah, Nadia Atshan,
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Mediator role
Effect of organisational integrity of work
and leadership behaviour on engagement

organisational excellence
Mediator role of work engagement
Hadi AL-Abrrow Received 24 August 2018
Revised 20 November 2018
Department of Business Administration, College of Administration and Economic,
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Accepted 14 December 2018

University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq, and
Hasan Abdullah and Nadia Atshan
Business Administration Department,
Basrah University College for Science and Technology, Basrah, Iraq

Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of organisational integrity and leadership behaviour
on organisational excellence by considering the mediating role of work engagement in the banking sector.
Design/methodology/approach – The quantitative (questionnaire survey) design was used to gather
data from 285 employees of the banking sector in Southern and Central Iraq.
Findings – The findings revealed a partial mediation role of work engagement in the relation between
organisational integrity and organisational excellence and a full mediation role between leadership behaviour
and organisational excellence.
Research limitations/implications – Managers need to understand that the impact of their leadership
behaviour on organisational outcomes; they also have to understand how people think and what motivates
them positively. Therefore, managers must deal with employees as internal customers and realise that their
satisfaction and performance is the satisfaction of external customers.
Originality/value – Few studies have dealt with this topic in the in developing countries such as Iraq. The
increases the strength of competition in the Iraqi banking sector pays more attention to the search for
excellence. Therefore, more research efforts are needed for achieving organisational excellence in this sector.
Keywords Work engagement, Leadership behaviour, Organizational excellence
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Public banks in Iraq are facing stiff competition in terms of services delivery quality owing to the
development and expansion of private banks. In this scenario, public banks have to strive for
organisational excellence, and this heavily depends on employees’ skills (Moon and Hamilton,
2013; Anand, 2017; Ramirez et al., 2018). Therefore, in recent years, there has been a need to study
the organisational leadership integrity and behaviours in the context of developing countries,
particularly those countries having religious and cultural diversity. It is believed that leadership
behaviour and integrity have different meanings and understanding in this context (Njoku, 2013).
The Iraqi context, which is one of these contexts, it was and still is to suffer from these
challenging and problems related to the ethical behaviours of leaders. Leaders/managers are International Journal of
Organizational Analysis
perceived to be the organisational representatives and their behaviour will consequently affect © Emerald Publishing Limited
1934-8835
employees’ attitude towards the organisation (Parry and Proctor-Thomson, 2002; Kayes et al., DOI 10.1108/IJOA-08-2018-1518
 IJOA 2007). Perception of employees about managers’ integrity will inevitably effect work processes
and will have an impact on the extent to which employees relate to their work “work
engagement” (Avolio and Gardner, 2005; Vogelgesang et al., 2013; Abdullah and Marican, 2017).
A wide range of studies have used work engagement as a mediator that links
organisational inputs and outputs (Hakanen et al., 2006; Babcock-Roberson and Strickland,
2010; Salanova et al., 2011; Babelan et al., 2017). But what the study will try to test is to test it
with inputs and outputs at the organisational level as shown in current study model
(Figure 1), which adds a different dimension of knowledge than previous studies.
In particular, the current study suggests that measuring organisational integrity alongside
leadership behaviour will provide an accurate and clear explanation of the importance that
managers should focus on disseminating their culture of integrity All this is aimed at successfully
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developing the organisations planning to achieve organisational excellence (Perkmann et al.,

2011; Goetsch and Davis, 2014; Hassanpour, 2014; Golmohammadi et al., 2016).
This will explain to us how employees in service organisations in general and banking
are responding to their perceptions of the intentions and behaviour of leaders.
Moreover, the ethical climate that will be determined by the degree of organisational
integrity will determine not only the reaction of the employees towards organisational
environment but also the level of the prevailing organisational ethics (Parry and Proctor-
Thomson, 2002). This suggests s that a match between words and actions of managers will
not only affect employees’ motivation towards work but also affect their behaviour and push
them to follow their managers.
This ethical aspect is important not only in gaining the trust of the employees but also in
gaining the trust of the public benefiting from the service and thus achieving excellence
(Boardman and Klum, 2001; Grojean et al., 2004). A successful leadership must balance the
focus on three things: employees, customers and services. This focus, if achieved, will also
contribute to organisational excellence (Darling, 1999).
Although the great challenges and difficulties in the Iraqi context in this times. The
banking sector in Iraq is growing with a great desire to provide quality services. Especially,
when the Government is also encouraging the private sector to grow and expand. This
increases the strength of competition among them and pays more attention to the search for
excellence. Therefore, more research efforts are needed for achieving organisational
excellence in the Iraqi banking sector.

Theory and hypotheses

This section seeks to justify the variables and to develop hypotheses. The discussion starts
with the main variable (i.e. work engagement) and then move forward with its determinants

Organisational
Integrity H4
H1

Work Organisational
H3
Engagement Excellence

H2
Leadership H5
Figure 1.
Behaviour
Study model
 (i.e. organisational integrity and leadership behaviour), before discussing its outcome (i.e. Mediator role
organisational excellence). of work
engagement
Work engagement
Organisations are more interested in investing in human capital development to achieve the
best possible performance (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Luthans, 2002). In this
regard employees’ work engagement remains the main focus. It is defined as a state of mind
positively linked to work and characterised by vigour, dedication and absorption (Schaufeli
et al., 2002). This connects employees mentally and emotionally with their work to deal well
with the demands of the work. It also encourages employees towards innovates solutions to
organisational problems (Schaufeli et al., 2006).
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Work engagement is conceptualised differently. First, it is a situation that can be

measured in three dimensions, i.e. energy, involvement and efficacy (Maslach et al., 1996).
The second opinion is that work engagement consists of three dimensions including
physical, emotional and cognitive (May et al., 2004). Still, it is seen as a distinct concept that
is negatively related to burnout and measured in terms of vigour, dedication and absorption)
(Schaufeli et al., 2002). The current study adopts the last view of work engagement.

Organisational integrity and work engagement

Moral degradation of staff is detrimental to the organisations. This requires the building of
an integrated ethical awareness within the organisation to develop integrity through
changing organisational control practices, clearly defined organisational principles and
purpose, core values, culture, procedures and daily practices (Kayes et al., 2007; Prottas and
Nummelin, 2018).
Integrity is a perception derived from moral principles that vary from individual to
individual (Parry and Proctor-Thomson, 2002). In the context of an organisation, integrity is
defined as the appropriate behaviours of organisational members as honest, faithful and
caring. Organisational integrity is not only desirable but also essential for the long-term
survival of the organisation because it will have long-term positive consequences such as
positive organisational culture, reduced levels of staff turnover and improved performance
(Parry and Proctor-Thomson, 2002). Integrity is a leadership trait characterised by morality
and ethics (Parry and Proctor-Thomson, 2002; Vogelgesang et al., 2013). Integrity
characterised ethical language of decision-making, structural support and procedures to
facilitate the decision-making process, creating an open culture, responsibility and
commitment to multiple business goals and attention to employees’ development (Kayes
et al., 2007; Engelbrecht et al., 2017). Organisational integrity is defined as an alignment
between words and actions (Simons, 2002; Dineen et al., 2006; Vogelgesang et al., 2013).
Some studies have focused on perceived integrity only “authenticity”, while others have
focused on perceived behavioural integrity “fit between words and deeds” (Parry and
Proctor-Thomson, 2002), As the recent period has seen a shift to integrity as the actual
behaviour of leaders and managers (Vogelgesang et al., 2013). particularly about exploring
performance and business outcomes (Dineen et al., 2006; Simons et al., 2007; Coffey et al.,
2018).
The results of Vogelgesang et al. (2013) study show that employees who see leaders’
behaviour as integrity and transparent are more engaged in their work. An honest leader
will instill confidence in employees that the best thing to do is to connect deeply with the
work and the required roles. Therefore, the leader who fulfills his promises and implements
his/her words will convey a message to employees and hence to engage them with their
work (Avolio and Walumbwa, 2006; Engelbrecht et al., 2017; Coffey et al., 2018). Based on
 IJOA the idea that a positive relationship between the leaders and the subordinate are positively
linked to their work engagement (Xu and Cooper Thomas, 2011; Prottas and Nummelin,
2018). Many studies have concluded that there is a positive relationship between
organisational integrity and work engagement (Vogelgesang et al., 2013; Engelbrecht et al.,
2017; Prottas and Nummelin, 2018). Hence, we can state the following hypothesis:

H1. Organisational integrity is positively related to work engagement.

Leadership behaviour and work engagement

Leadership is the process of social influence on the perception and attitudes of subordinates
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at the individual or collective level to obtain the best positive behaviour of the organisation
(Duursema, 2013; Njoku, 2013). Some may argue that the era of technology and growing
sophistication has diminished the importance of human resources, but in fact, the human
resource has become more important to the organisation, in same time dealing with them
has become more difficult and complicated (Von Dran, 2005; Njoku, 2013). It is also noted
that the perception of human beings has shifted from being the tools of achieving the goals
to be the main nucleus of the organisation (Von Dran, 2005; Abdullah and Marican, 2017).
Employees assess leaders based on many perceived traits and practices, such as ethics,
motivation, inspiration, care, honesty and integrity, justice, trust, appreciation, etc. (Njoku,
2013). Evolution of the concept of leadership through charisma, characteristics and traits,
actual behaviour, behaviour according to contingency theories, transformational,
empowerment, ethical and other concepts that appear from time to time (Von Dran, 2005). It
is important to explore leadership behaviour in organisations working in developing
countries, especially when society consists of different ethnicities, sects and religions
(Njoku7, 2013). In organisations of different types and sizes, leaders are responsible for
strengthening and empowering human resources (Bennis and Nanus, 1985; Duursema,
2013). The good leader is the one who has the flexibility to use different behaviour for each
situation. For example, in the event of a crisis, he should highlight charisma in the calm and
push efforts to discover the problem, while, he should be able to manage the impression and
deal with others when the crisis is resolved (Njoku, 2013). It is common knowledge that
leaders determine the nature of the work environment, which in turn determines the positive
or negative employees’ attitudes towards work.
Every employee or group of employees is different with respect to his/her level of
proximity and attachment to work (Kahn, 1990; Abdullah and Marican, 2017). There are
many signs that leadership in all its concepts (e.g. charismatic, transformational and
authentic leadership) affects the extent of the employees’ psychological and physical
connection in work (Zhu et al., 2009; Babcock-Roberson and Strickland, 2010; Giallonardo
et al., 2010) because effective leaders will focus on encouraging and supporting followers to
derive their internal motivation for work. This increases their engagement in the work
(Avolio and Gardner, 2005; Meyer and Gagne, 2008; Abdullah and Marican, 2017). Based on
the above, we can put the following hypothesis:

H2. Leadership behaviour is positively related to work engagement.

Work engagement and organisational excellence

There are several key concepts of organisational excellence, i.e. focus on results and
customer satisfaction, leadership and consistent goals, management by processes and facts,
employee development and participation, learning, innovation and creativity, social
 responsibility, etc. (Goetsch and Davis, 2014; Houshi and Taleghani, 2016). Organisational Mediator role
excellence is the development of plans to achieve organisational prosperity, which is of work
consistent with the organisation and its environment, It ensures the process of
implementation of these plans and its evaluation based on the tools of total quality
engagement
management (TQM), continuous improvement and organisational learning (Perkmann et al.,
2011; Goetsch and Davis, 2014; Houshi and Taleghani, 2016). Organisational excellence has
also been defined as the growth and strengthening of the organisation in various fields,
which in turn satisfy all stakeholders and achieve organisational prosperity on a long-term
basis (Shirvani and Iranban, 2014). Organisational excellence is an organisational
commitment to sustainable development through the improvement of organisational
culture, the working environment and human resources (Hassanpour, 2014; Golmohammadi
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et al., 2016).
In the past, strategic planning has been sufficient in the evolution of organisations and
changing them in a planned manner. Today, in an unstable business environment,
maintaining the sustainability and excellence of organisational processes has become very
difficult (Fiorelli and Feller, 1994; Houshi and Taleghani, 2016). In recent times, research has
found that work engagement is positively related to organisational as well as individual
performance (Hakanen et al., 2006; Ramirez et al., 2018). Also, the extent to which employees
are committed to what they are responsible for may directly affect the level of customer
satisfaction and thus organisational excellence (Tutuncu and Kucukusta, 2007). Therefore,
we expect the work engagement will contribute to inculcate the culture of organisational
excellence (Houshi and Taleghani, 2016; Anand, 2017). Where organisational excellence is
created based on the quality and effectiveness of employees (Perkmann et al., 2011; Ramirez
et al., 2018). Because, one of the requirements of organisational excellence is excellence in
human resources, and the first seed of excellence in human resources is their increased
involvement in work (Houshi and Taleghani, 2016; Stoyanova and Iliev, 2017). Shirvani and
Iranban (2014) argued that attention to human power and focus on the discovery and
developments of their positive aspects are the most important tools of organisational
excellence (Stoyanova and Iliev, 2017). Work attitudes, including work engagement, are
important factors in achieving organisational excellence (Golmohammadi et al., 2016;
Anand, 2017; Ramirez et al., 2018). Therefore, we can put the following hypothesis:

H3. Work engagement is positively related to organisational excellence.

Mediator role of work engagement

Organisational culture determines the extent to which the organisation is distinguished in
the different areas it seeks to achieve (Qawasmeh et al., 2013; Kassem et al., 2017). Effective
leadership contributes to organisational excellence (Hashemi and Ghajari, 2014). Eskildsen
and Dahlgaard’s model suggested that leadership contributes to overall organisational
performance through its impact on employees’ outcomes (Eskildsen and Dahlgaard, 1999).
Excellent organisations characterised a positive relationship between employees and
managers (Momghani, 2010; Babelan et al., 2017). Parry and Proctor-Thomson (2002) found
a positive relationship between perceived integrity and organisational effectiveness. Work
engagement is one of the potential factors that can contribute to the improvement of the
organisational process (Thor, 2012). Active leadership is what attracts and maintains good
and talented employees and hence contribute to increased productivity and better
performance for external customers (achieving excellence) (Serrano and Reichard, 2011).
In this study, employee attitudes are the focus in determining the impact of leadership
and its behaviour and integrity in organisational excellence. This is in line with many
 IJOA studies those have been based on work engagement (attitudes) as a mediator variable in the
relationship between inputs to organisational work and its individual or organisational
outputs (Hakanen et al., 2006; Babcock-Roberson and Strickland, 2010; Salanova et al., 2011;
Babelan et al., 2017). As a replication of these findings, we hypothesised the following:

H4. The relationship between organisational integrity and organisational excellence is

mediated by work engagement.

H5. The relationship between leadership behaviour and organisational excellence is

mediated by work engagement.
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Method
Respondents and procedure
This research has been carried out in the banking sector of Southern and Central Iraq.
Initially, a total of 1,490 employees were identified as potential participants to this research.
Finally, 305 employees were selected for the purpose of data collection (Thompson, 2002).
Out of 305 distributed questionnaires, a total of 285 filled questionnaires were received with
a response rate of 93 per cent:

N  pð1  pÞ
n¼ 
½ N  1  ðd2  z2 Þ þ pð1  pÞ

The questionnaire was translated into Arabic in a literal manner to ensure that it is
understandable for all participants. It was also done to intact the content validity of the
measuring instrument. The questionnaire consisted of (50) items covering the four major
variables, with answers on a five-point scale.

Measures
Following is the description of various scales used to determine the variables of this study.
 Work Engagement: A nine-item scale (UWES-9, Shortcut original scale 17 item)
developed by (Schaufeli et al., 2002, 2006) was used, which was divided into three
dimensions: Vigor: 3 items (e.g. “At my work, I feel bursting with energy.”),
Dedication: 3 items (e.g., “I am enthusiastic about my job.”), and Absorption: 3 items
(e.g., “I feel happy when I am working intensely”). The reliability and validity of the
scale have been verified (Schaufeli et al., 2006).
 Organisational integrity: A one-dimensional scale developed by Simons et al. (2007)
was used. It consists of 8 items (e.g. “There is a match between my manager’s words
and actions.”), It has a reliability estimated at (a = 0.91).
 Leadership behaviour: A scale developed by Duursema, (2013), consisting of 13
items (e.g. “My manager focus on long-term objectives.”), was used. It is also a one-
dimensional construction.
 Organisational excellence: Qawasmeh et al. (2013) scale was used to measure
organisational excellence, which consists of four dimensions and 20 items, divided
equally into each dimension: Management Excellence (e.g. “Bank management is
excellently capable of achieving organisational effectiveness.”); Employees Excellence
(e.g. “Bank employees own excellent mental capabilities.”); Organisational Structure
 Excellence (e.g. “Bank structure clearly defines lines of authority and responsibility.”); Mediator role
and Strategy Excellence (e.g. “Efforts are always dedicated to achieve bank strategic of work
objectives.”). This measurement has been tested in a similar service sector has
engagement
obtained the coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha (a = 0.96).

Data analysis
Confirmatory factor analysis
This study used structural equation modelling (SEM) to assess model fit and to test how
well the data fit the measurement and structural models, by comparing the models based on
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multiple fit and then choose the best model, as shown in the Table I. This was done using
AMOS V.23 and is dependent on the following indicators:
 root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), and standardised root mean
square residual (SRMR), both have to be less than 0.08 (Arbuckle, 2006);
 comparative fit index (CFI);
 incremental fit index (IFI);
 normed fit index (NFI), the CFI, IFI and NFI value has to be equal or more than 0.90
(Bentler and Bonett, 1980; Hair et al., 2009);
 the ratio between x 2 (Chi-square) and df (degree of freedom) x 2/df, that has to be
less than 2.5 (Arbuckle, 2006).

In begin, we tested the single factor (M1), so that all variables as one latent factor, and the
following result was reached: x 2/df = 3.43; CFI = 0.61; IFI = 0.62; NFI = 0.63; RMSEA =
0.20; SRMR = 0.22 > After that, we tested the two-factor (M2), organisational excellence was
considered the first latent factor and other factors were designated to the second latent
factor, this results as under: x 2/df = 2.92; CFI = 0.78; IFI = 0.79; NFI = 0.79; RMSEA = 0.14;
SRMR = 0.15.
Finally, the three-factor (M3) was tested, where, organisational excellence was again
considered to be the first latent factor, and organisational integrity and leadership behaviour
as a second latent factor; whereas the third latent factor included work engagement because
the work engagement is the most distinguished from other variables and the most used as a
mediator variable in previous literature. This resulted following: x 2/df = 1.64; CFI = 0.92;
IFI = 0.93; NFI = 0.92; RMSEA = 0.06; SRMR = 0.07.
Based on the above, and because of the (M3) characterised by the constructs and
discriminant validity, as well as it contains the best data for this study’s sample (Hair et al.,
2009). In addition, it is shown that the indicators of that model (three-factor) are the best.
Also, findings showed that most relationships between the indicator variables and the latent
variables were statistically significant.

Models RMSEA SRMR CFI IFI NFI x 2/df

M1 0.20 0.22 0.61 0.62 0.63 3.43

M2 0.14 0.15 0.78 0.79 0.79 2.92
M3 0.06 0.07 0.92 0.93 0.92 1.64 Table I.
Assessing the models
Source: AMOS. V. 23 program outputs fit
 IJOA Descriptive statistics
Table II demonstrates descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) and correlations
among the study variables. It does not suggest multicollinearity problems, as all correlation
coefficients are comfortably lower than 0.55. We also used Cronbach’s alpha to verify the
reliability of study measures and their internal consistency. Also, as shown as in Table II,
the value of Cronbach’s alpha (in parentheses) of variables is greater than 0.70 and is
statistically acceptable in administrative and behavioral research (Pallant, 2011).
Our findings indicate a positive correlation between the four variables (p < 0.01), where
the correlations were good and not too large, and this keeps us away from multicollinearity
problems (Pallant, 2011). This indicates that there is no overlap between the independent
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variables leading to problems and difficulty in measuring the effects of change caused by
each independent variable in the dependent variable. Finally, these results provide initial
support for the study’s hypotheses.

Testing hypotheses
Because the study model is a mediation model consisting of two independent variables and
one mediator variable, we used the Amos program (V. 23) to test hypotheses. We also used
bootstrapping tool to test the significance level for indirect effects, for the strength of this
tool and its popularity in research that tested models similar to the current study model. As
shown in the Table III:
According to Table III, the two hypotheses that represent the path “a” in the model were
accepted (H1, H2: p < 0.01), indicating find a direct effect of organisational integrity and
leadership behaviour on work engagement. Also, the hypothesis that represents the path “b”
was accepted (H3: p < 0.05), indicating the existence a direct effect of work engagement on
organisational excellence.
Based on Baron and Kenny (1986), the two indirect effects (through the mediator variable
“H4 and H5) of the study model were tested. Three conditions for accepting the indirect
effect hypotheses:
(1) Find a direct significant effect of the independent variable in the mediator variable
(path a)
(2) Find a direct significant effect of the mediator variable in the dependent variable
(path b).
(3) The total effect is significant. All above conditions have been achieved and for
finding an indirect significant effect of those hypotheses, based on what it
produced Bootstrapping test, as shown in the Table III. We conclude to accept the
two indirect effect hypotheses in the model (H4 and H5: p < 0.05).

Variables Mean SD 1 2 3 4

1. Organisational integrity 2.90 0.752 (0.905)

2. Leadership behaviour 2.94 0.998 0.532** (0.890)
3. Work engagement 3.03 1.100 0.491** 0.486** (0.880)
Table II.
4. Organisational excellence 2.51 0.933 0.346** 0.291** 0.294** (0.898)
Descriptive statistics,
correlations and Notes : N = 285; Alpha reliabilities appear in parentheses; **p < 0.01
reliabilities Source: SPSS. V. 23 program outputs
 Path Estimate S.E. C.R. P Label
Mediator role
of work
Direct effect engagement
OI ! WE 0.324 0.085 5.568 *** Supported
LB ! WE 0.314 0.064 5.403 *** Supported
WE ! OE 0.132 0.056 1.995 0.038 Supported
OI ! OE 0.224 0.085 3.281 0.001 Supported
LB ! OE 0.108 0.064 1.583 0.113 Unsupported
Indirect effect by work engagement
OI ! OE 0.043 0.023 2.102 0.023 Supported
LB ! OE 0.041 0.023 1.999 0.032 Supported
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Total effect
OI ! OE 0.267 0.064 4.173 *** Supported
LB ! OE 0.149 0.071 2.098 0.030 Supported

Notes: OI (Organisational Integrity); LB (Leadership Behaviour); WE (Work Engagement); OE

(Organisational Excellence); ***p < 0.001 Table III.
Source: AMOS. V. 23 program outputs Testing hypotheses

As for mediation hypotheses, we note the existence of partial mediation role of work
engagement between organisational integrity and organisational excellence because the
direct effect (OI ! OE: C̑ , p < 0.01) supported. But we find full mediation role for the work
engagement between leadership behaviour and organisational excellence because the direct
effect (LS ! OE: C̑ ) not supported. This indicates that leadership behaviour effect on
organisational excellence only through work engagement.

Discussion
In this paper, we focused on studying an important aspect of research within the field of
positive psychology in the organisational context. This has been done by examining and
illustrating the antecedents and outcomes of work engagement. The study also attempted to
identify the effect of organisational integrity and leadership behaviour on organisational
excellence through the mediation role of work engagement. With the aim of trying to explain
how do employees in the banks respond to changes in activities and work procedures, as
well as to the integrity and honesty of the leaders and managers. Iraqi banking sector is
entering into an era of unprecedented competition. This is mainly because of strategic plans
set by the government to shift to E-Governance. The employees’ response has been studied
in terms of their enthusiasm and mental and physical connection to their organisational
work, and how this affects the achievement of organisational excellence that banks seek to
achieve. This study is in line with many previous studies (Eskildsen and Dahlgaard, 1999;
Hakanen et al., 2006; Momghani, 2010).
Organisations often must change themselves in response to the changes in the external
environment and the intensity of market competition. The changes in the external
environment, in general, affect all components of the organisation, especially the human
component. This seems to have happened in the Iraqi banking sector as well, due to the
development and growth of non-governmental competitors, especially in the presence of
more opportunities for investment and growth, which requires banks a shift towards
innovative technological solutions. The success of this adoption to change depends heavily
on the nature of human interaction within the organisation and with the new components
brought about by the change. The new components may include new technology and new
 IJOA work procedures. Therefore, the relationship of leaders with employees and their integrity,
honesty and commitment during the change process will affect employees’ perception of the
work accordingly. This is what the current study has achieved through the impact of
positive organisational integrity on work engagement, suggesting that the extent to which
leaders’ action match with their words will in some way affect the mental and physical
connection of employees with work with the same magnitude. In other words, the positive
perception of work environment among the employees will result in their positive work
attitude (Vogelgesang et al., 2013; Engelbrecht et al., 2017; Prottas and Nummelin, 2018).
It is not only the relationship between employees and the integrity of the leaders that
affect the work, but even the strategies or behaviours set by leaders and their fit to the
employees also affect the efficiency and effectiveness of the employees. Therefore, the
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strategies and methods used by leaders will affect the organisational processes accordingly.
This is supported by the results of the present study as a positive correlation was found
between leadership behaviour and employees’ work engagement. A change requires
leadership behaviour that manages the process of change and convinces everyone within the
organisation of the need to change and maintain the same level of their enthusiasm and
ingenuity (Avolio and Gardner, 2005; Meyer and Gagne, 2008).
Also, there is a positive effect of work engagement on organisational excellence. This
leads to the conclusion that achieving organisational excellence requires a focus on
employees and customers and the success of later depends on the achievement of the former,
i.e. employees’ work engagement. This finding supports the results of several studies
(Shirvani and Iranban, 2014; Houshi and Taleghani, 2016). There is always a need to satisfy
customers better than the competitors. Certainly, the main axis of doing so are employees,
who must be persuaded to work in the best possible way according to the plans and tools
developed in achieving organisational excellence.
In the end, we must note that work engagement fully mediates relationship for leadership
behaviour and partially for organisational integrity on organisational excellence. The direct
relationship between the organisational integrity and organisational excellence was not
equal to zero, but the direct relationship between the leadership behaviour and
organisational excellence was equal to zero. This indicates that the effect of leadership
behaviour on organisational excellence is only through work engagement. This provides
support to the findings of several previous studies (Hakanen et al., 2006; Babcock-Roberson
and Strickland, 2010; Salanova et al., 2011). This is an indication of the importance of
leadership role to influence the employees’ work engagement to achieve desired objectives

Implications for practice

This study has got some practical implications for human resource development, which is as
under:
Managers need to understand that the impact of their leadership behaviour on
organisational outcomes will only be through their impact on the human resources of the
organisation, which requires them to understand how people think and what motivates
them positively. Therefore, managers must deal with employees as internal customers and
realise that their satisfaction and performance is the satisfaction of external customers. It is
found that the congruence between the words and actions of managers will greatly affect the
rapprochement between employees and their work. Therefore, there is a great need not only
to match words and actions but also to communicate those words and actions to the
employees in a positive manner. This has been observed that public organisations in Iraq do
not focus on developing leadership skills in managers. This is what banks need to focus on if
they want to compete with private banks. Organisations must take care of dissemination of
 a culture of integrity across the organisation because it is one of the most important factors Mediator role
that contribute to the creation of a positive organisational culture that is receptive to change of work
and make employees work with more efforts to achieve what is required of them. Also, the engagement
channels of communication must be open horizontally and vertically within the organisation
to diagnose problems and identify the ethical violations that others may hesitate to disclose.
Finally, bank managers must understand there are several factors (beyond which are
described here) those can contribute to the achievement of organisational excellence.

Limitations and future research directions

Like many research studies, this one has also some limitations. Although the current study
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attempts to explain how organisational excellence is achieved through the interaction of

managers and employees, there are some limitations that can be looked into in the future.
The research has been carried out in the banking sector, which is service-oriented.
Therefore, caution should be exercised in generalising the results to the other service
sectors. This study is cross-sectional in nature, so there is a need to conduct some
longitudinal study to obtain more reliable results to support the results obtained. Although
the reason for conducting the study in the government banking sector was due to the large
changes that occur to keep abreast with the development of banking services, a comparative
study between the government and private banking sector will also give us more results to
explain the problem.

Conclusion
The results of the present study indicate that organisational excellence will only be achieved
by focusing on building positive employees’ attitudes toward work. This, in turn, will only
be through that managers should focus on the interaction with employees through the
implantation of leadership skills of managers and the fit between their words and actions.
Most important among all is how to connect with the employees and affect their perception
and imagination towards the organisation.

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About the authors

Dr Hadi AL-Abrrow is an Associate Professor of Organization Studies at the University of Basrah –
Iraq. He received his PhD in Business Administration in 2012 from The University of Essex, UK. His
research interests lie in organization studies, organizational behaviour, leadership and innovation.
Hadi AL-Abrrow is the corresponding author and can be contacted at: hauni_2000@yahoo.com
Hasan Abdullah is an Assistant lecturer, Basrah University College For Science and Technology-
Iraq. His research interests lie in organizational studies.
Nadia Atshan is an Assistant lecturer, Business Administration Department, College of Economic
and Administration, University of Basrah-Iraq. Her research interests lie in organizational studies.

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